The permit of stay for humanitarian protection can be issued:
– From the Head of the Police office upon recommendation of the Territorial Commission in case of non-recognition, cessation or revocation of the Refugee Status, if there are serious reasons of humanitarian nature or deriving from Constitutional or international obligations of the Italian State.
– Upon request of a foreign national, even without the Commission’s recommendation, whether there are serious reasons of humanitarian nature, the Head of the Police Office has the obligation to verify the personal situation of the applicant concerned in order to exclude the existence of impediments to an expulsion or push-back procedure, as provided by judgement No. 8831 of the 8th of October 2008.
– In case of recognition of a temporary protection as provided by art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Immigration for humanitarian needs, in case of conflicts, natural disasters or other facts of a particular gravity occurring in a non-European country.
– In case a foreign national is deemed inadequate for expulsion as provided in art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Immigration.
– In other cases, when provided by social protection programmes for victims of trafficking and exploitation (art. 18), in which cases the permit of stay has different features.
Pre-requisites
The permit of stay for humanitarian reasons can be requested and renewed even in the absence of a valid passport or of the prerequisites applying to other typologies of stay permits, such as the availability of means of subsistence, or shelter, or availability of financial means to return to the country of origin.
Duration
The duration of the permit for humanitarian protection shall depend on the declared and documented reasons for obtaining such protection. It may have a validity of 6 months to 18 months.
The permit for humanitarian protection allows to
– Access to the labour market, either wage labour, self-employment, provided the person meets the necessary requirements, or membership of a cooperative enterprise;
– Access to the National Healthcare System (mandatory);
– Access to the Town Hall reception centres and the social assistance measures provided for recognised refugees;
– Access to education;
– Possibility of conversion into a permit of stay for work or family reasons whether the person concerned meets the necessary preconditions. In this case, it is necessary to have a valid passport.
The permit of stay for humanitarian protection does not entitle to family reunification.
The permit is renewable as long as the conditions which determined its recognition hold. This applies also in case of absence of a valid passport. The request for renewal shall be submitted to the competent Immigration Office (Questura).
Where to request it
The humanitarian protection permit shall be requested to the competent Immigration Office by means of the “210 Form” (Modello 210).
Applicants must provide:
– passport pictures;
– declaration of domicile/residence;
– tax stamp of 16,00€.
According to the existing law, provided the recommendation of the competent Territorial Commission, the Police Office MUST issue the stay permit without discretionary powers.
